


Time to Cry

by Scarlet_Curls



Series: Always There for You - A Collection of Renora Oneshots [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Childhood Friends, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29284644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Curls/pseuds/Scarlet_Curls
Summary: Little Lie never had time to process his loss when they stumbled through the woods. Surviving was their first priority, but now they're safe at Kuchinachi and Lie is using his semblance to avoid his grief. Nora reminds him that it's okay to feel sad sometimes.
Relationships: Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie
Series: Always There for You - A Collection of Renora Oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150589
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Time to Cry

Nora stretched her arms above her head with a yawn. The sun peaked between the two buildings where they slept. Next to her, Lie lay curled on a make-shift bed of grubby, tattered towels. Nothing comfortable, but better than the hard concrete Nora just rose from. She was used to it by then, hence why she offered Lie the towels. He was still adjusting from the Kuroyuri incident two weeks ago, unable to sleep well during their nights in the forest. Nora wondered what sleeping on a real bed was like. They looked very soft and warm, like you wouldn't wake up aching and half-frozen. The best sleep Nora ever got was the early morning after Kuroyuri, when they ran and ran until they had no more strength to spare or even panic about the grimm. They collapsed and curled up to avoid the cold. Seconds later, Nora new nothing but an unfamiliar, comforting sense of warmth tingling in her chest. At one point, a nightmare jolted her awake, but the weight of Lie's arm across her was enough to banish the fear instantly. Yes, he was still a stranger at that point, but he was her stranger. He was the seed for something special, and she would care for this seed with everything she had. Two weeks later, there was a shoot, but that was it.

Thinking about Lie and sleep made her realise something about Lie and sleep lately. In the wilderness, he took forever to fall asleep. He'd toss and turn and readjust but never found comfort. This always woke her just as she'd drift off every few minutes, until his body became too tired to care about the discomfort. But even then, he was a light sleeper, and could hardly stay under for more than a few hours. Eventually he'd give up when the sun rose, and leave Nora to continue dozing while he scavenged for breakfast. Ever since arriving at Kuchinachi, he'd fall asleep in seconds and take minutes of coaxing to wake-up. During the day, he was sluggish, and the bags under his eyes never faded. He'd trail behind Nora as she skipped. She always assumed that his body still wasn't used to the new living conditions, but Nora had strong intuition. It kept nagging her, telling her something was off.

She turned back to Lie. His hand gripped the towel, and his face twitched and winced. Cautiously, she poked him, and he woke with a jolt, fear blazing in his eyes until they fell on Nora, when he slowly exhaled. "Just you."

"What happened?"

Lie sat up and stretched. "Dream." When his hands fell back into his lap, they shook slightly. He clasped them together, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He stopped shaking, but swayed as if he wanted to sleep again. It was already a late rise, even for Nora. Her stomach growled, and an idea struck her.

"Race you to the nearest trash can?" Nora hoped the exercise would wake him up.

He stood, but not without a slight groan of protest. Nora sprung up and positioned herself, ready to speed off. Lie mirrored her pose as she counted down.

"Ready… set… Go!"

Nora sprinted ahead, but far from her full speed to give Mr Lie Down a chance. Despite this, she could not see Lie approaching from the corner of her eye. She twisted around corner after corner, until she spotted the bin that hopefully held something edible. Skidding to a halt, she looked around for Lie, but he was no where to be seen.

She only needed to backtrack around one corner to find him kneeling on all fours, wheezing like the time they collapsed after running away from Kuroyuri for so long. A few people gathered around him like he was some odd spectacle, whispering. "Lie!" Nora shouted. She pushed her way between a couple (and they left with their noses in the air) and dropped to her knees before him. "Are you okay?"

He couldn't answer her. He needed air more. It was as if he'd almost drowned. She didn't understand. They had just woken up, and the run was so short. Why was this happening?

Lie shakily stood, revealing the bleeding scrapes on his palms from the rough bricks paving the streets. As he tried to steady himself, his knees buckled, and he feel into Nora's arms. A calming sensation washed over her, erasing the worry that should have doubled. With the wave came clarity of mind. She knew what was wrong now.

Shooting glares at all the onlookers, she lifted Ren up and helped him back to their camp in the ally. She found a battered, half-filled, plastic water bottle she fished from the garbage a month ago and handed it to him. "Drink up."

Lie gulped it down like a dying person in the desert. Nora fetched their spare water bottle and three old, seemingly clean pieces of cloth. She wet one and cleaned his scrapes as gently as she could, but he still hissed as they stung. Nora tied the other two pieces over the scrapes and hoped they wouldn't infect them. After that, Mr Lie Down tried laying down, but Nora grabbed his shoulders (feeling the calm wave yet again) and leaned him against the nearest wall. "No," she said. "Stop using your semblance."

He shook his head and tried laying down again, but Nora flung her arms around him. This time, his semblance did little to wash away her emotions because they were so strong. A tear soaked his shoulder as she held him close and tight. "Stop it, Lie. Please. We barely know each other, but I don't want to see you hurt yourself." He didn't stop. "It's okay to cry, Lie. I miss my family too. We can cry together."

Nothing happened at first, but the calm sensation slowly trickled away like melting ice, or the tears that dripped onto the back of Nora's head. That's all it was at first, a few tears, but the semblance kept melting until it could no longer act as a dam. They poured down, and the waterfall flowed faster when he finally decided to sob without shame, clutching Nora like she was the only stable thing in existence.

Nora ugly cried with him, over two years of bitterness, sadness, and anger pounding in her chest as she remembered that blurry night when everything was snatched away. She was so young back then that she couldn't tell what really happened or which blanks her imagination filled.

Nora had been needing a moment like this ever since then. She needed to be held by someone who understood. The nights where she cried on her own were the most lonely, but this was the first time she felt like someone was there when she needed it, and she was there for them as well. It worked out best when they started asking the impossible questions.

"Why did it have to happen?"

"I don't know."

"I miss them so much."

"Me too."

"Who's going to be my family now?"

"I will."

Nora's mind was such an emotional mess that she couldn't tell who said what, but that last part struck a place in her heart she had never felt before. The silence suggested something similar happened to him.

"We're going to be family?"

"Yes. The best family ever. Just you wait."

Did they cry for ten minutes, twenty, sixty? They didn't know or care until the energy to feel completely flushed out of them. Nora drew herself from Lie's arms to meet his eyes. "How do you feel?"

"Better." He yawned. "Still tired. Still," he paused, "sad."

Nora also yawned and smiled. "That's okay." She rearranged the towels for Lie. "Promise you won't use your semblance like that again."

Lie hesitated, but overpowered by Nora's wide-eyed, pleading stare, he gave in. "I promise."

Nora smiled bittersweetly. "Good," she said, "because you might not have them anymore, but you have me." She blushed. "Even if we still don't know each other much."

Again, Nora offered Lie the towels, brushing away every "Are you sure?" She curled up on the hard concrete next to him, watching as his eyes drifted closed. A thought struck her.

"Hey Lie?"

"Hm…?"

"Can I call you something else?"

"Like what?"

"Ren. I like that part of your name better."

"Sure."

"Thanks Ren. Would you like to name me?"

"What's your full name?"

"Dunno. I've just known it as Nora."

"How about Valkyrie? They're a hammer wielder from one of my old picture books."

Her face lit up. "Nora Valkyrie?" He nodded. "I love it! Hope I can be like them someday."

"I'll try to find a copy to show you."

"I'd like that, Ren. What are you laughing about?"

Ren smiled cheekily. "I like the name Ren already. It's cute when you say it."

Nora rolled to her other side to hide her blush. She could only respond with a "That's nice."

"Hey Nora?"

Hoping her blush had died down, she rolled back to face him.

"Yes, Ren?"

"Thank-you."

Nora's chest glowed with that strange feeling she barely remembered feeling towards anyone else. She liked it very much, and hoped he'd make her feel that way forever. "You're welcome," she said, but her thoughts said something else.

_Thank-you, Ren._

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this story and several others on my Tumblr (same username) a few years ago and then I posted them on my Fanfiction.net account last year. Thought I'd post them here as well, since then they would be easier to find. Hope you enjoyed this and be sure to check out the series on my profile called 'Always There For You' for more Renora oneshots.


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